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The Central government has agreed to talk to the agitating Gorkha leaders agitating in Darjeeling for a separate Gorkhaland. External Affairs minister, Pranab Mukherjee, however, ruled out any talks on their demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland. The Gorkha leaders had earlier refused to hold talks with the West Bengal government unless, the centre leadership was involved.
Pranab Mukherjee had asserted that the centre is not in favor of a separate state and the government was willing to hold talks with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leaders, provided there were no pre-conditions. The external affairs minister also held a ten minute meeting with West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, during which the latter reportedly convinced Mukherjee to neither concede to the Gorkha demand nor push Sixth schedule status for Darjeeling in the Lok Sabha. The Left Front has asked the chief minister to call on the Gorkha leaders for talks on 18th of this month.
